Quicker access to rehab for patients with atrial fibrillation

Patients diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) are set to receive support and rehabilitation more quickly at UHNM. In an innovative reversal of the nationally accepted pathway, patients newly diagnosed with AF will now be referred to the hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation team at the same time as referral to the specialist arrhythmia team, meaning treatment and rehabilitation can begin simultaneously. The trust’s cardiac rehab team saw 2783 patients in 2019-2020 and patient waiting times for the service currently stand at 14-26 days, a shorter time than the nationally accepted standards for other types of specialist care.

Sonya Lockett, Service Lead for Cardiac Rehabilitation, has been given the Pioneer Award by the AF Association in recognition of her work to enhance care for patients with the condition.

Sonya said: “Diagnosis of a heart condition such as AF can make patients feel anxious and scared, but this anxiety can be immediately offset by the support we provide in Cardiac Rehab, which includes cognitive behavioural therapy, education groups, ‘ask the expert’ AF podcasts and other virtual resources. We also have a wide-ranging social media platform for home exercises, education sessions and online patient and carer support groups. All of this is trustworthy material which is monitored and produced by specialist clinicians.

“Patients previously attended for rehab care only after a referral was made by an arrhythmia specialist and following their outpatient review and this meant that it was months before they were able to access the extensive support and information that we provide.  We wanted to harness the power of rehab by getting patients to us as quickly as possible.

“All AF patients are also now screened for obstructive sleep apnoea and this has resulted in the successful identification of positive patients, prompt referral to the sleep and ventilation service where they can be cared for by more specialists in that field.”